


Juggling New York

by Nakira Taisho (nakirataisho)



Series: Miraculous One-Shots [7]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Lukanette mention I guess, Miraculous Ladybug Spoilers, don't judge me on how long this is I didn't want to split it, episode rewrite, ml salt, only because I have CRITICISMS about the special, speaking of the special...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26735722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakirataisho/pseuds/Nakira%20Taisho
Summary: When Marinette and her class go to New York for the French-American friendship celebration, trouble follows them.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Miraculous One-Shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/744561
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Juggling New York

"Chat, I asked you not to give me any more flowers…whether they're romantic or not doesn't matter…," Ladybug told Chat Noir when he offered a yellow rose after they'd defeated Mr Pigeon (for the 51st time and she wondered what drugs Hawkmoth was doing to make him think that was a good idea) she took the rose anyways and headed for the door. She had things going on. "I already know you're the best partner I could ask for. And besides, I have a boyfriend now." She glanced back to see his face tighten into a scowl. She sighed and left the Eiffel Tower.

She found an alley to detransform in and gave Tikki a cookie. Ever since Miracle Queen, Tikki hadn't been so exhausted after long fights, and she didn't seem to have a timer anymore (a little digging in the Grimoire photos told her that was normal 'when training was complete' even though she'd had all of a collective hour of training) but she still tried to keep the urgency so Chat wouldn't get jealous of her getting new powers when he had nothing but Cataclysm. She headed to the school for the contest announcement and paused at the new Gabriel ad outside the building. At first, she couldn't tell what they were trying to sell with Adrien's face this time, but then she saw 'great for athletes' and that Adrien was holding a shoe. She shook her head and went into the school and up to the library.

Normally, she would have taken a picture of the ad, for research, but she could find a better version of the image online.

They watched the film and Mr Damocles told them that they'd won the contest and the trip to New York. When she'd gotten the email the week before and started preparing for the trip (updating her passport and getting everything together for the trip) Marinette set to work with plans to take care of Paris. She bought one of those long-distance vibrator things and built a little cat plush around it (complete with bell) and she covered the remote with red paint and black spots. She put it in her purse when she was done and carried it with her until she could have time to talk to Chat Noir properly about her going out of town.

"Regrettably," Mme Bustier said lightly when Mr Damocles finished talking. "I won't be joining you."

"Why not?" Marinette gasped.

"Well, I just had some medical appointments I couldn't postpone," the teacher laughed, pressing a hand to her stomach. "Because, I'll be having a baby soon." The entire class (except Chloé who was busy trying to get hold of her father) cheered and Marinette noticed Adrien looking really confused. When Mr Damocles brought the conversation back to New York and their chaperones, Adrien curled in on himself. He hadn't gotten permission from his father to go yet, even though they had a plane ticket waiting for him. Lila made her offer to hang out and Marinette leapt to her feet with a louder-than-intended shout of disapproval. All eyes turned to her as she covered her mouth.

"I mean…we all made the film together," she clarified. Lila had just been present and wouldn't help so they hadn't actually put her in the credits even though she got the participation grade (no one was happy about that but she'd claimed some disability or injury prevented her from being more helpful so they took pity on her) and didn't get a ticket to New York. "Adrien helped us win this trip, so it's only right that he gets to go with us. He _has_ to," she started rambling about friendship and the whole class rallied around her with offers to go with her to convince Gabriel.

"Thank you," Adrien laughed. "But…my father's a difficult person to convince."

"I will _never_ let a friend down," she promised. She also knew that if he was stuck in Paris, his father would _make_ him spend time with Lila and even if no one else noticed and Adrien wouldn't say anything, Lila made him uncomfortable. After they were dismissed, Alya and the girls cornered Marinette on the stairs.

"Adrien's your _friend_?" Alya questioned.

"Absolutely!" she agreed. "It was way past time for me to move on. All that obsessing was just hurting me in the long run. I was completely crazy from how much it hurt."

"No kidding," Alix scoffed. Marinette rolled her eyes and told them how liberated she felt and all the things she'd already completely gotten out of the habit of.

"No, you're getting lost in blue eyes now," Juleka joked when Marinette mentioned her newfound ability to not get lost in Adrien's eyes. She went scarlet and laughed.

"Wait, what?" Alya gasped.

"I'm dating Luka," Marinette told her. "And I don't get lost in his eyes, Juleka…not when he's not talking at least…Luka has a very soothing voice…," she mumbled.

"Does he know about your poster collection?" Alix quipped.

"Those are strictly for research purposes," she argued. "On how _not_ to advertise. Did you know that Gabriel's ads are framed to focus more on Adrien than the products he's trying to sell? Like that new ad outside with the shoes? I couldn't even tell what they were trying to sell until I saw the tiny little caption at the bottom!"

"Right…and are you sure you can handle a week in _New York_ with Adrien and no boyfriend?" Alya sighed.

"Seriously? It'll be fine," she argued. "As long as I can convince his dad…"

So, the class gathered together and they all went to Adrien's house. It was surprisingly easy to persuade Gabriel to let Adrien go on the trip. After a short celebration of their victory in getting Adrien to be allowed to come, the group parted ways and Marinette went home to finish her preparations.

She had one more task to make sure Paris was taken care of and that was to enlist temporary heroes to help Chat. She'd deciphered the photos of the grimoire and learned a few things about the Miraculous. So, she wrote a note and put it in a box with the Horse Miraculous. Then she put the Bee Miraculous in another box.

She had a date with Luka that afternoon, and she slipped the Horse Miraculous in the basket of his bike while she kissed him when he dropped her off after. She knew he might figure out that she was Ladybug, but she hoped she'd been sneaky enough that he'd just think it had been in his basket for a while and maybe Ladybug had dropped it there while they were in the restaurant eating. When she was finally alone, she transformed and went on patrol. She bumped into Chat Noir and got him to sit with her on a rooftop, where she gave him the spotted remote and explained her plans to leave the country. He played with the remote and she reminded him the remote was for emergencies only.

"And I'm not leaving you alone, Kitty," she assured him. "I gave out the Horse Miraculous so they can come get me in an emergency. And…," she trailed off, pulling the Bee out of her yo-yo. "Apparently the Bee has a power to take care of Sentimonster and their damage. I want you to pick the person for it."

"Really?" he gasped. "But…wouldn't you need to know who I pick?"

"We're partners Chat. That means sharing the responsibility," she laughed. "As long as it's not Chloé Bourgeois, please dear god don't pick her, I know you can make a good choice. Just make sure they know that it's only while I'm out of town and when I get back, we need the Miraculous back."

"Thank you," he laughed and headed out to do just that. Marinette shook her head and went home to double check her bag.

* * *

The next day, she spent some time studying the Grimoire photos and she noticed something familiar about one of the Miraculous detailed. She kept the page up and looked at the pamphlet on her trip.

"No way!" she gasped when she found a decent picture of the necklace. "That's…a Miraculous! Or something that looks really close to it…," she trailed off and looked at the entry for it. "And…if I'm reading this right, it's definitely not something that should be out in the open like that…"

"So, what are you going to do?" Tikki asked.

"I don't know. I'll figure it out when I get to New York and see it in person," she sighed.

While Marinette was carting her things downstairs, her purse started mewing frantically as if Chat was pushing the remote button in rapid succession. She groaned and cited a need to go to the bathroom. She transformed and called Chat Noir.

"What's the emergency, Chat?" she demanded when he answered. "I haven't even left Paris yet."

"Yeah, about that. I just found out that I'm being allowed to go on this trip that I didn't think I'd be able to go on and I really want to go but--" he rambled.

"You gave out the Bee, right?" she cut him off.

"Yeah…," he mumbled. "To--"

"I don't need to know," she reminded him. "I trust you. And I already told the person I gave the Horse to that they only need to come and get me if there's an Akuma. Thanks for letting me know, but my bus is--"

"The bus is almost done at the school!" her father called.

"I'm gonna miss my bus!" she gasped. "I'll see you after we get back to Paris," she told Chat before ending the call and dropping her transformation. She rushed downstairs and grabbed her bag. Her parents insisted on making her pause for goodbye kisses and hugs. When she made it to the street, the bus was already pulling away from the school and picking up speed as it headed for the airport. She called after it and ran as fast as she could with her bags.

"Marinette," Luka called and she stopped to see him on his bike and approaching her. "Hop on, I'll get you to the bus." She squealed in joy and put her bag on the back of his bike before putting on a helmet and sitting on top of her bag. When she was settled, Luka started biking after the bus and they caught up just before it stopped at _Adrien's house_. Adrien and his bodyguard were waiting and she kissed Luka in thanks before getting on the bus. She thought it was a little weird that Adrien got picked up at his house, but she didn't think more on it as she went to her seat.

* * *

On the plane, she stared at her ticket for her seat assignment and compared it to the plane seats. Chloé showed up and said something before sauntering to First Class.

"Marinette," Adrien called to her and she looked up. "What's your seat number?"

"Um…B…32B," she sighed.

"Oh, great," he laughed. "You're sitting next to me!" he declared, grabbing her bag and taking it to put above their seats.

"Awesome, Marinette," Alya laughed. "Go and sit next to your 'friend'," she taunted, making air quotes as she talked. "So, you can enjoy a nice flight together. A very _long_ flight."

"I have a boyfriend," she growled before joining Adrien.

* * *

While she and Adrien watched the sunrise, Marinette noticed something red peeking out of his pocket. He went on about thanking her for convincing his father. He hugged her and she bit her lip, pulling the red thing out of his pocket. _It was the remote she'd given Chat Noir_. She tried not to tense up and shoved it back into his pocket. He pulled away and started to say something when the plane jostled and they were knocked to the ground in a heap.

"What was that?!" she gasped. Alarms started blaring and the plane listed to the side, tossing Marinette and Adrien into the wall.

"Don't worry, sweethearts," a voice called over the PA. "We have the situation under control." Marinette looked out the window to see a cyborg(?) flying outside. "Dear passengers, United Heroes are here to protect you."

A loud bang sounded outside the plane and after a moment it was levelled out. Marinette turned properly to try and see what was happening. Two superheroes flew in and she recognized Knight Owl from the comic she'd gotten as a Lucky Charm when Mr Damocles was Akumatized.

"We should get back to our seats," Adrien gasped and Marinette nodded and they rushed back to their seats. An announcement came over the PA as Majestia told them that the situation was taken care of already. "Wow…they handled that quickly."

"Yeah," she agreed.

* * *

On the bus from the airport, Alya was rambling about the superheroes that saved the plane, so starstruck about seeing them in action that she couldn't bother Marinette about her watching the sunrise with Adrien. Apparently along with Knight Owl, it had been his sidekick Sparrow with him on the wing while Majestia was the one that levelled the plane and the cyborg that was with them was known as Uncanny Valley.

When they got to the hotel, Adrien and Marinette were the last to get off the bus and Marinette noticed one of the heroes from the plane flying away. When they got into the hotel, the door seemed to be glitching and wouldn't open for them. She frowned and tried to pry it open. Abruptly, the door slid open on its own and she fell forward. Adrien caught her and she smiled at him.

"Thanks, K--" she cut herself off. "Adrien," she corrected and grabbed her bag. One of the American students in the lobby introduced himself and Mme Mendeleev called everyone to attention. She gave her instructions in such a way that everyone groaned, but followed instructions.

"Wow," the guy laughed. "So, we're having a party on the roof if you guys wanna have some fun."

After they got settled in their rooms (Marinette was bunked with Alya, Chloé and Sabrina, but she planned to ignore Chloé) and Mme Mendeleev was in her room, everyone snuck out into the hall and made their way to the elevator. A bit of chaos ensued as their teacher almost caught them and Adrien and Marinette ended up in a room together with a couple of girls. The girl with braids pointed to the fire escape outside the window, so they went that way, thanking them for the help.

The party seemed fun enough and the two girls even joined them. A guitar joined the music and some people started dancing. Something caught Marinette's eye in the sky and she looked to see what looked like, but couldn't have been, a flying hot dog stand.

"It's Hot Dog Dan!" someone shouted and the thing that was apparently a hot dog stand landed on the roof. The crowd rushed to get hotdogs.

"Wow. Usually he teams up with Ketchup Boy and Mustard Justice, but looks like he's patrolling solo tonight," someone quipped. "You should hurry if you wanna try one of his magic hot dogs."

"Really?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah, they go quick," she laughed and Alya and Nino rushed to join the crowd as people started having magic powers and strange things happened to them.

"No, I meant about 'Ketchup Boy' and 'Mustard Justice'," she clarified.

"They were joking," the black girl with her said softly. "There are a lot of heroes in America, but no one in New York with those aliases."

"A lot of heroes, huh?" she sighed. "Must be nice for them not to have the entire nation on their shoulders alone…," she mumbled as Adrien tried to get in on the hotdogs.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, just…in Paris we only have two heroes and they have to do it all on their own, against _two_ super villains. And…they're only teenagers," she sighed. "Or at least…I think they're only teens," she corrected herself. Adrien started floating and she waved at him.

"Are you and that boy a couple?"

"No, we're just friends," she sighed. "Really good friends…I'd trust him with my life," she whispered, thinking of all the times Chat Noir had saved her both as herself and Ladybug.

"I'm Aeon," the black girl introduced herself. "And this is Jess."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Marinette."

* * *

The next day, they piled into the bus to go to the museum. Alya heckled her over not getting a hot dog, but was distracted when they got off the bus.

"Oh my gosh! Look over there! That's Dean Gate, a.k.a. Doorman. He can turn any door into a teleporting passage. I'm gonna go try and get a quote for the Ladyblog!" Alya rushed off and Marinette sighed.

"So, superheroes in America don't always keep their identities a secret?" Adrien gasped.

"I guess they don't have the same stakes over here as w--" she broke off and cleared her throat. "Ladybug and Chat Noir. I mean…they probably don't have some crazed man-child after the source of their powers…"

"Yeah, you're probably right," he laughed and they went to join the class. The doors malfunctioned and trapped them in the entry. "Seriously?"

"What is _with_ these doors?" Marinette groaned. "Look for a button, maybe we can force it open." Adrien nodded and she opened her purse. Tikki rolled her eyes, but flitted out and phased into the wall.

"Found the controls," Adrien sighed. "But they're on the other side."

"Great. Plan B then," she laughed and started trying to pull the doors. They slid open without much trouble and Tikki flew back into her purse without anyone noticing.

"Nice!" Adrien laughed and they joined the others. During the tour, Alya sighed tiredly.

"Marinette, could you go and take a picture of Lafayette's sabre for me? I forgot while we were in there," Alya told her and she nodded.

"Sure," she sighed and went back to the room to look. She was all alone in the room and after taking the picture, she carefully moved closer to the display to look at the necklace. "What do you think, Tikki? Can you tell if it's a Miraculous?" she whispered and Tikki nodded.

"Oh, hey Marinette," Adrien greeted and she quickly closed her purse. The door slammed shut behind Adrien and she rushed to help him. Both of their phones went off and she looked to see an Akuma alert. "What?" The report detailed _Robostus_ on the attack and two heroes fighting him while Nadja questioned who the heroes were and where Ladybug and Chat Noir might be.

"It's got to be a Sentimonster," Marinette hissed, watching the fight with baited breath. "Those new heroes are doing pretty well…"

"Yeah," Adrien agreed. "I mean, Markov's in the other room."

"I am Solitude," someone declared behind them and Marinette looked to see a figure that was eerily similar to Oblivio aiming some sort of claw at them. "And I've come to take captive those that are loved by no one!"

"Well, you're not gonna find anyone like that in here," Marinette laughed, looking for something to use as a weapon. Adrien nodded in agreement and seemed to be doing the same.

"We come from the City of Lights and Love, after all," he laughed. The ground rumbled and the villain flickered out of existence. "Was it a hologram?"

"Looks like," Marinette muttered. A hole was punched in the ceiling and someone dropped into the room. She pulled Adrien to hide behind a pillar and she looked to see him busting into the sabre case. "Pretty dramatic to steal a sword…"

"Hey!" someone called from the roof and Marinette looked to see Sparrow and Uncanny Valley dropping into the room. "I thought your thing was new technology."

"What are you planning to do with the sabre?" Uncanny taunted. "Use it as an antenna?"

"I don't have time to play with you kids!" the villain shouted and started blasting at them. Marinette ran to another pillar as the one she and Adrien were hiding behind was struck and nearly collapsed. The fight moved into another room and she heard Sparrow trying to call for help. After a moment, Sparrow was thrown into the pillar Marinette was hiding by and she rushed to pull him out of the way of a blast.

"Plagg!" she heard Adrien shout. "Claws out!"

"Chat Noir, look out!" she shouted as Uncanny Valley ploughed the villain into a pillar just as Adrien transformed. "So, we're doing this. Tikki, spots on," she hissed and got Sparrow to safety as the pillar they were by collapsed. She helped Sparrow to his feet and checked him for injuries.

"Ladybug?" Chat Noir gasped. "What happened to Marinette?"

"I just got her to safety before helping, Sparrow, right?" she questioned and the other hero nodded. There was a loud impact and they all rushed to see that Uncanny Valley had been thrown into a wall. "Chat Noir, go help the other hero out there. I've got business in here." He nodded and went out to help with Sparrow. Ladybug ducked behind a display as someone else dropped into the room. She made a face, recognizing Hawkmoth.

"Nathalie," he said into she assumed a Bluetooth. She quirked an eyebrow. "You can get rid of the--what? It's taken care of? Well, no matter, I've got what I came for." She looked to see him grab the necklace from the display.

"Not so fast, Hawkmoth!" Ladybug gasped, coming out of hiding and throwing out her yo-yo to try and snatch the Miraculous from him. He dodged and leapt out of the room with the necklace in hand. She started to follow after him when she heard another impact in the other room. "I'll get it from him later," she hissed and ran out to help the others. "He's an Akuma!" she told them. "Hawkmoth is in New York!"

"What?!" Chat Noir gasped. She nodded and threw out her yo-yo to catch the villain and throw him across the room. "That's not good."

"I know," she agreed. "We need to get him out in the open. Figure out where the Akuma is and take care of it. Uncanny Valley, can you blast through the wall so we can get out of here?"

"No, he disabled my weapons," Uncanny sighed.

"But not mine!" Sparrow declared, pulling out a launcher.

"Great. I'm thinking we need to target his hand cuffs, but we need more room to work," she told them before leaping in to engage the enemy. The four of them swarmed the villain and Sparrow blasted a hole in the wall so they could get outside. Uncanny caught him up and flew to a roof with the others hot on her tail. "Chat Noir, on my mark, I need you to call out 'Black Hole' and point at the sky above us."

"Why? What'll that do?"

"Just trust me," she sighed and he nodded. The villain started to try and run away. "Now!" Chat Noir did as she'd said and a solid black dome appeared around them. The villain disappeared through the wall, but dropped from above and onto the roof. She nodded to Chat and he called for a Cataclysm. "Lucky Charm!" she called as well and a bicycle pump landed in her hands. The villain started blasting at Uncanny Valley and Sparrow, declaring that he could get revenge by killing them. She and Chat moved to protect the other two heroes.

"Any ideas for the pump?" Chat called to her.

"Yeah," she tied it to her yo-yo and threw it at the villain. He stopped firing, but grabbed Chat Noir and shoved him towards Ladybug. She started to dodge, but Uncanny got in the way and caught Chat's Cataclysm. "No!" They heard a scream outside the dome.

"Oh my god…," Chat gasped as Uncanny fell to the ground, unconscious and likely completely shut down. Ladybug glared at the villain and just as she was about to charge him, Majestia blasted through the dome and punched the villain off the roof and through probably five buildings.

"Stay with Uncanny," Ladybug told Sparrow and threw out her yo-yo to try and find the target to take care of the Akuma. Her path was blocked by Knight Owl landing on the scene as Majestia sobbed over Uncanny. "Out of the way," she growled to Knight Owl, but the older hero didn't budge.

"What have you done?!" Majestia demanded.

"It's my fault…," Chat mumbled.

"Don't you blame yourself for that, Chat!" Ladybug scolded him.

"Why didn't you call us?" Knight Owl demanded, looking at Sparrow. "And _you_ , what are you doing here?"

"I _was_ trying to do my job," Ladybug snapped. "Since he's probably gotten away by now, may as well." She threw the bicycle pump at Knight Owl and called for Miraculous Ladybugs, dissolving the item before it hit the hero. All the damage was repaired almost instantly and she touched Chat's shoulder. "You should get going before--"

"System rebooted," Aeon declared and hugged Majestia. Knight Owl moved to block Chat Noir's exit.

"You're both too dangerous," he declared and Sparrow tried to come to their defence. "So are you! You should have called and waited for us to get there!"

"That Akuma destroyed their communicator!" Ladybug shouted. "You're down to one pad, Chat. _Go_." He nodded and ran off.

"Wait!" Knight Owl shouted after confiscating Sparrow's tool pack.

"For what?" Ladybug demanded.

"You _both_ need to hand over the source of your powers until you leave town," he growled.

"And leave New York defenceless?" she scoffed. "I don't think so."

"New York has us," Majestia snapped.

"And where were you? Sparrow's communicator was destroyed and Uncanny's weapons and communicator deactivated. They made the decision to help us against that Akuma. And we almost had him when you showed up late to the fight and threw the guy through those buildings and let him get away," she griped. "And just so you're aware, Uncanny _saved my life_ when she got in the way of that attack. Chat Noir was thrown at me and if Uncanny hadn't gotten in the way…," she trailed off and both Sparrow and Uncanny agreed with her sentiment.

"Ladybug had a 5% chance of not being harmed," Uncanny recited.

"Why do you keep referring to Techno Pirate as an…Akuma?" Majestia asked.

"So many heroes in America and you don't know about the terrorist that we've been dealing with in Paris?" she demanded and then launched into an angry explanation about Hawkmoth.

"And what if you hadn't been able to fix everything? Or if Uncanny wasn't a cyborg?" Majestia demanded.

"I guess the people in those buildings were just collateral damage then," Ladybug bit. "Uncanny, are your weapons back online?"

"Yes," she assured her as Majestia worried her lip and remained silent about the collateral damage comment.

"So…do you have any idea what this…Hawkmoth is in New York for?"

"Same thing I was after at the museum," she sighed. "There was a Miraculous on display and I'd planned to steal it before anyone else could so I could get it to a safe place with other Guardians."

"Oh yes, steal an item to protect it from being stolen…brilliant," Knight Owl mocked.

"I'm a Guardian. It's my job to find and secure lost Miraculous if I find them. And now, Hawkmoth has this one and an Akuma on standby." Her yo-yo started vibrating and she checked it. "Hold on," she sighed and answered the call. "Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Yeah," Luka's voice sighed. "I just saw the news in New York, do you and Chat Noir need help?"

"No," she assured him. "We've got all the help we need from local heroes. Hawkmoth is here in New York, so if anything else comes up, it'll be a Sentimonster."

"All right, I'll let Mitsubachi know. Call if you need us," he told her.

"We will," she promised. "Thank you for watching Paris for us while we're away."

"Of course," he laughed and ended the call. Ladybug smiled a little and checked the time.

"I need to get back to my group. If you find the villain, please let me know," she sighed and the older heroes nodded. She vaulted away and found an alley to detransform. Uncanny landed behind her and she yelped in surprise.

"Don't worry, Marinette, I just came to help you get back to the hotel. It looks like it's about to rain," the cyborg said lightly and she sighed.

"Of course, you would figure us out…you were there. But what was with the hologram villain?"

"Oh, your friends Alya and Nino asked for help getting you and Adrien to recognize your feelings for each other."

"Our feelings? Seriously? Adrien and I are friends and trusted partners. I have a _boyfriend_ ," she groaned. "And he doesn't know who I am, so please don't say anything about that." Uncanny nodded and Marinette let her fly her to the hotel. They landed and her classmates swarmed her.

"Oh my god, Marinette are you okay?" Alya demanded.

"What happened, dude?" Nino added.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up and got me to safety," she told them. She spotted Adrien and feigned ignorance, though she was worried about him. He'd seemed pretty shaken about Cataclysming Uncanny Valley. "Adrien, are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah…Chat Noir grabbed me before the pillar I hid behind collapsed," he said easily and she sighed in relief. If he was still shaken by what happened in the fight, he was hiding it really well.

* * *

The next night, Ladybug and Chat Noir joined the American heroes in the hunt for Hawkmoth's most recent victim, Techno Pirate. Someone flew down to the street level and Ladybug heard him offering surrender. She spotted Majestia, Knight Owl and two others (one looked vaguely like the teacher she'd seen at the museum) go to the street and approach him. She frowned and used her yo-yo as a camera to really look at the villain. He was wearing the Miraculous from the Museum and she cursed. Uncanny Valley and Sparrow landed on the roof next to her.

"Why are you up here and not down there taking care of him?" Sparrow demanded.

"Because of this," she showed them the image her camera was picking up. "That's the Miraculous of Liberation. If he hits me with the power it gives, it's over."

"Liberation!" the villain shouted and beams of energy flew from his chest.

"Hide!" she gasped and they all ducked into hiding. The building shook and they looked out to see several buildings being blown into the harbour.

"Mom…," Uncanny whispered. Ladybug nodded and called Chat Noir.

"Please have not been hit…," she mumbled.

"Where are you, Milady?" Chat Noir asked.

"Hiding with Uncanny Valley and Sparrow. You?"

"I made it into the Subway tunnels before he fired off that power," he assured her.

"Ladybug…Chat Noir," Hawkmoth's voice echoed from the monitors on the street. Uncanny promptly started projecting his broadcast. "I am in New York as well. If you don't want the party to be ruined, your only option is to hand your Miraculous over to me!" he declared.

"Cut it off," Ladybug sighed. "We've heard his speech a million times. He'll probably threaten to fire a nuke or something, this is the standard stakes…"

"But in Paris he didn't have a superhero that could easily hit Earth with the Moon," Uncanny sighed.

"No, but he's managed to Akumatize half the city before," Chat Noir laughed. "What's the plan, Ladybug?"

"We have two targets. His handcuffs are still on him, so that must be where Hawkmoth put the Akuma again. _And_ he has a Miraculous. The Eagle Talon necklace he's wearing," she told the other teens. "If we get the necklace, we can free the other heroes from the effects of Liberation and get to his handcuffs." Alarms started blaring and she heard Hawkmoth threatening to fire a missile and start a war.

"Standard stakes," Sparrow laughed. She nodded and called for a Lucky Charm. A Statue of Liberty keychain landed in her hands. "Um…"

"So, we're supposed to get past the world's most powerful superheroes…with a keychain?" Uncanny gasped. "Interesting."

"Trust me when I say that 'yeet' was the simplest use of a Lucky Charm I've ever seen," Chat told them.

"Uncanny," Ladybug sighed. "Where is the villain?"

"Atop the Statue of Liberty," she said lightly, projecting the villain sitting by the torch and counting down.

"Hm…can you show me the schematics of the statue?" Uncanny nodded and changed the projection. "There's a ladder in the arm that goes straight to the torch platform," she noted.

"But how are we gonna get inside unnoticed?" Chat asked.

"Doorman!" Sparrow gasped at the same time as Ladybug.

"Uncanny, will you find Chat and then meet us in an alley near Times Square?" she sighed and Uncanny nodded before flying out of the building. "Sparrow, help me find a box and something to wrap it with." Sparrow nodded and they got the keychain boxed up like a present before they went to an alley to meet Uncanny and Chat Noir.

Uncanny unlocked a door and she and Sparrow dropped their disguises to take a picture of the door and them holding the present to text to the older hero while Chat and Ladybug pushed two dumpsters into place on either side of the door to hide behind. Everything in place, she looked to Aeon and Jess.

"We'll meet you on Liberty Island," she told them as they activated their disguises again. The two left and Ladybug and Chat waited for Doorman to take the bait. He appeared through the door and opened the box to see the keychain. He cackled and put it in his pocket before closing and reopening the door. The heroes followed him and hid behind décor in the office of the Eiffel Tower while he tracked down a key and put it on the keychain. He went back to the door and they followed him again. This time, they cornered him and trapped him before heading to the ladder and up the arm of the statue. Just as the rocket was firing, they made it to the platform and Ladybug snatched the Miraculous, shoving the villain to the ground as she did.

"Sparrow!" she shouted, throwing the Miraculous to them. Sparrow caught the Miraculous and Ladybug looked down as they dropped to the ground and transformed. The water levels returned to normal and Majestia could be seen flying after the rocket to fling it out of the atmosphere. The heroes started fighting Techno Pirate and suddenly a string wrapped around him as Knight Owl joined them and pinned the villain down. Chat Noir Cataclysmed the handcuffs and Ladybug captured the Akuma. She cast Miraculous Ladybugs and Techno Pirate was arrested again. Jess started to give her the Miraculous and Ladybug shook her head.

"But…," Jess argued.

"You've earned it," she told them. Jess turned to Knight Owl and the hero launched into a speech before removing _her_ helmet. Ladybug sighed a little. "If anyone else comes after it, unless they have a specialized box, let me know and I'll come help if you need it." Jess nodded.

"Thank you for all your help, Marinette," Uncanny said lightly and she stared at her. "Oh, sorry…"

"Marinette…?" Chat gasped.

"We need to get back to our tour group," she sighed. "We can talk in private, Adrien." He nodded and they left the scene.

"How long have you known…?" he asked.

"On the flight…I saw the remote," she told him as they landed on a roof. "I was going to say something when we got back to Paris…this won't make things weird as friends, will it?"

"No," he promised. "I _am_ sorry for being so pushy with my feelings."

"So, are you and Kagami…?" she asked, moving to another roof closer to the hotel.

"Kind of," he sighed. "It's a work in progress…but with my father…it was Kagami or Lila and I'd rather spend time with Kagami." They got back to the hotel and fell silent as they went to an alley to detransform. "I've gotta ask, how did you know about that power the other day?"

"Remember that book that your father had?" she sighed. He nodded. "Fu figured out the code and left it for me…we took pictures of the book before I gave it back to your father." She paused and caught his hand. "Adrien…Hawkmoth told _Nathalie_ to get rid of Robostus when he was stealing the Miraculous from the museum."

"So…," he swallowed. "You were right about my father…"

"I think so…I'm so sorry, Adrien," she mumbled.

"Don't be…it just makes me want to defeat him that much more…," he growled and she hugged him before they went back to the hotel to meet with their classmates.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on [Tumblr](https://sorcerymuses.tumblr.com/ask) or [buy me a coffee](https://ko-fi.com/nakirataisho)


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